I Am Hades, Lord of the Underworld!

A faith artifact and a divine statue of faith are the core components of cultivating faith. The path of divine cultivation is divided into three: rule comprehension, nurturing a divine kingdom, and harnessing the power of faith. Hades had reached his current position by centering his cultivation on the World Tree seed, gradually nurturing it into the World Tree, which replaced his divine kingdom and brought him to where he is today.

It's clear that none of these three paths are inherently better or worse than the others. Hades focused on nurturing the World Tree as his divine kingdom while diligently studying the laws of the universe, pursuing both paths simultaneously to reach his current level. Beyond this, the cultivation of faith remained an additional aspect.

Although Hades had a divine statue capable of refining the quality of faith, he considered the power of faith to be of little importance in his overall cultivation. Essentially, his primary focus was on rule comprehension and nurturing his divine kingdom. However, if cultivating two paths had brought him so far, wouldn't adding a third path—faith cultivation—make him progress even faster and more steadily?

The divine statue was important, but the true core was a faith artifact. A faith artifact could amplify the power of faith a hundredfold, a thousandfold, or even ten thousandfold. While obtaining a divine statue was impressive, Hades had never managed to acquire a faith artifact. In fact, in all the knowledge he had gathered, faith artifacts were considered nearly mythical.

Because of this, Hades had always regarded faith artifacts as something to be hoped for but not expected. However, to his surprise, he had now encountered the prototype of a faith artifact. This was a nascent form, still an empty shell, requiring time and a vast amount of faith to nurture it into a fully-fledged faith artifact.

If Divine Goodness and Human Evil were excellent divine objects, then the prototype of this faith artifact was truly the most perfect harvest Hades could have hoped for.

Hades carefully released his divine power, infusing his divine blood into the prototype of the faith artifact. He realized why his father, Kronos, hadn't cared for this artifact's prototype. Simply put, Kronos hadn't considered it important. As the supreme Titan God-King, wielding the Scythe of Space and mastering the laws of space, Kronos had no interest in faith or divine kingdoms, focusing solely on rule comprehension.

However, Hades wasn't like his father. While purely cultivating the laws was a stable path, it was also too narrow. Hades sought the most comprehensive path, preferring to walk on all three legs rather than hopping on just one.

As Hades nurtured the prototype with his divine power and blood, it began to absorb his energy, slowly emanating the aura of the Lord of the Underworld. Carefully, Hades integrated the prototype into the divine statue within Elysium. He then set aside his Trinitarian Underworld Armor, focusing solely on nurturing and developing this faith artifact.

"It might take a million or even tens of millions of years," Hades murmured to himself, shaking his head slightly. "But time isn't an issue. After the Titanomachy, there will be a period of peace."

Hades understood this well. With the Titanomachy coming to an end, a new era wouldn't begin immediately. Instead, there would be a long period of calm—a time for the mythical world to recuperate and prepare for the next phase. During this vacuum period, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus would need to gather their strength and prepare to seize more resources and divine objects in the coming era.

This wasn't a joke. Before the end of his destined fate, Hades knew he needed to prepare for everything, collecting all he could to ensure his strength. This was an essential task.

So, as the Titanomachy drew to a close, Hades knew there was no need to rush. He had an eternity ahead of him to slowly nurture the faith artifact.

"What will this faith artifact, representing me as the Lord of the Underworld, become?" Hades pondered for a moment, then put the thought aside. With his divine power and blood infused into it, the faith artifact would now develop naturally.

With that done, Hades resumed his search for more divine objects and artifacts. Aside from Divine Goodness, Human Evil, and the invaluable prototype of the faith artifact, Hades wasn't particularly concerned about other divine objects or artifacts.

After a broad selection and collection, Hades ensured his haul was precisely one-third of the vault's treasures before leaving the Titan Vault.

As Hades exited the vault, Zeus immediately followed, stepping inside. Hades glanced at Poseidon, curious about why he had given up the second position, but it didn't matter. Hades returned to his throne to wait patiently.

Soon, Zeus emerged, having quickly made his selections. Most of the valuable items had already been taken by Hades, so Zeus only needed a short time to pick what remained. As for Poseidon, he didn't even bother with the selection, simply taking the last third of the vault's contents before leaving.

"It's time to go."

"Indeed."

"Let's go."

The three God-Kings knew it was time to depart, so they began their descent from Mount Othrys. Despite their power, even they couldn't leave the mountain by force. The descent didn't take long, and soon the three gathered at the foot of Mount Othrys once more.

Hades raised his hand, and the Gates of the Underworld opened suddenly. Chains forged from dark stars shot out, binding Mount Othrys and swallowing it whole into the Underworld.

In just a short time, everything returned to calm as the Gates of the Underworld closed once more.

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